My Journey into the World of Elementary Tech » newyear blog

New Year’s Resolutions

Nedra Isenberg — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:01:05 +0000

I don’t usually do much for resolutions as a new year rolls around. Sure there’s the lose a few pounds and eat healthier but that’s about it. On the other hand I can come up with several resolutions for my professional life. So with out further ado here they are:

Provide PD-I’m working on one resolution as I write this. I am working on writing a proposal to do professional development for my fellow teachers. I’m starting on getting them to use the resources we already have. If it’s accepted and goes well I’ll do another proposal comprising of digital storytelling and ways to share those stories.
Skype-I’ve been saying for a long time that I’m going to Skype. I keep putting it off but I did purchase a headphone/microphone set so I’m a step closer.
NECC-I will attend my second NECC, this time in Washington D.C. I am looking forward to this even more than my first one last year. I’ll be staying with 3 people in my PLN none of whom I’ve every met f2f. My PLN has grown since last year so it’s going to be even more fun meeting some of these people face to face.
Elementary Tech Teacher’s Ning- Continue to support this and keep it a viable place on the web.
ArtSnacks- Continue my commitment to being a mentor.
Grants-Continue to look for and write grants to gain more technology for our district.
Blogs-return to reading other blogs on a regular basis.
PLN-Continue to learn and grow from my great PLN!

What are your resolutions for the coming year?

photo courtesy of vanhookc’s photostream http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3081/3158658646_dd740b6c07.jpg?v=0

PD Summer Goals Meme

Nedra Isenberg — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:13:13 +0000

Awhile back Andrea over at EdTech Workshop tagged me for the PD Meme started by Clif Mims. I knew it would be easy since I already had my summer goals written down. The hard part has just been remembering to post them and tag 8 more people. My summer has begun and I have a long list of goals. So this exercise is a good one for me to zero in on what are the three most important goals for me to focus on this summer. Here they are:

Go to NECC with specific goals of what I want to learn.-Done and posted
Become familiar with podcasting and be ready to introduce it to students and staff in the fall. I know this is probably old news to everyone else but for our school it’s a brand new concept. Each school is receiving two Macs this fall I think this is going to make it easier especially since I can’t download audacity at school, although to be fair, I haven’t asked for it to be unblocked yet either.
I have an IWB in my labs with Smartboard Notebook. I won a grant recently and I get one SMARTboard for a classroom. I need to find ways to make the board truly interactive for the kids and to find good resources for the teachers. I have tons of resource sites. I need to take time this summer to look through and find the best ones to share with the two teachers that will be sharing the board. Our focus with the board will be social studies with a focus on DBQs.

Hmmm, it would have been easier to do eight goals and tag three people! But here goes.

Since I have limited time on the internet as I journey across the United States I’m not taking the time to see if you have already been tagged or not. If you have or if you’re not interested just pass it along.

Thanks.

Directions

Summer can be a great time for professional development. It is an opportunity to learn more about a topic, read a particular work or the works of a particular author, beef up an existing unit of instruction, advance one’s technical skills, work on that advanced degree or certification, pick up a new hobby, and finish many of the other items on our ever-growing To Do Lists. Let’s make Summer 2008 a time when we actually get to accomplish a few of those things and enjoy the thrill of marking them off our lists.

The Rules

Pick 3 professional development goals and commit to achieving them this summer.
For the purposes of this activity the end of summer will be Labor Day (09/01/08).
Post the above directions along with your 3 goals on your blog.
Title your post Professional Development Meme and link back/trackback to http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/353.
Use the following tag/ keyword/ category on your post: pdmeme.
Tag 8 others to participate in the meme.
Achieve your goals and “develop professionally.”
Commit to sharing your results on your blog during early or mid-September.

New Year Reflection

Nedra Isenberg — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 03:12:00 +0000

As I begin a new year that I know will be filled with new learning I am trying to decide what direction I want my blog to move in. Do I want it to be a place where elementary tech teachers can share lessons, after participating in 25 days to Make a Difference do I want to promote blogs and causes to help others, do I make it a place where parents/students go, do I leave it as it mainly is now, a personal journal? Well, a personal journal pretty much defeats the purpose of a blog so I need to move past that. I think I’ll try combining the first two ways and continue to reflect on my new learning and keep my school web page for parents and students. Now, if I could just figure out how to squeeze a few more hours out of each day! Another things I want to do with my blog is list my favorite blogs so far with links. I want to put a couple of good teacher blogs on my school web page as well and try to get some classroom teachers to begin to take a look at them. I will begin working on improving my blog this weekend.